Ropes, Riddles, & Robberies

Title: Ropes, Riddles, & Robberies
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: December 31, 2020 by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Audio, Kindle 212 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #15

Blurb: Mae has been having memories about the house fire that killed her family, leaving her orphaned.

As a child she couldn't do much to prove the fire wasn't an accident, but as an adult and with a group of friends to help, Mae is on the case to put the clues of the past together to bring out the truth.

Their investigation heats up making this cold case come to a rolling boil!

My Opinion: This series is hitting just right for me lately. Every so often, you need to climb out of your own head and slip into a familiar, cozy world, and Normal, Kentucky is exactly that kind of place. Quirky? Absolutely. But it’s also a found family for Mae West, and honestly, sometimes that’s all any of us need.

Ropes, Riddles & Robberies brings Mae to a long‑awaited turning point. She’s carried the weight of her family’s tragic house fire for so many years that whole pieces of the memory have gone foggy. And now she’s finally ready to go back to the town she ran from, to face the terrifying question she’s never been able to shake: did she accidentally cause the fire that killed her parents and siblings?

Mae doesn’t go alone, of course. The Laundry Ladies and her adoptive mother are right there at her side, ready to help her face whatever truth comes out of the ashes. It’s messy, emotional, and exactly the kind of character‑driven arc that makes this series more than just a string of mysteries.

And speaking of mysteries, the investigation here kept me guessing. Hank got a little annoying, but the reveal wasn’t obvious, which is something I genuinely appreciate in amateur‑sleuth stories. If I can’t peg the culprit early on, it’s going to be a good adventure.

This whole series is made up of short, easy reads that feel like a warm return trip to a place you know well. More people should be adding these books to their TBR piles. It’s always fun to get back to ‘Normal’, even if it’s tucked away in Kentucky.

Ideal Life

Title: Ideal Life
Author: Evelyn Skye
Published: August 18, 2026 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Format: Kindle, 288 Pages
Genre: Time Travel

Blurb: What if you could rewind the last 24 hours and perfect your life?

Talia Morgan has built her dream: a neuroscience startup poised for a $100 million acquisition that will validate years of relentless work to make the world better through technology. But when a glitch in her app leads to catastrophe, everything she’s worked for crumbles in a single night.

Then Talia wakes up with a mysterious watch that lets her rewind the last twenty-four hours. Suddenly, she can prevent the glitch, ace that crucial meeting, and savor perfect Sunday afternoons with Sam, her brilliant best friend who’s quietly loved her for nearly two decades. The watch feels like the ultimate optimization tool, a way to debug her life until every moment is flawless.

But Talia’s addiction to rewriting her past comes at a devastating cost. Each rewind pulls her further from the people she loves most: Sam, who watches helplessly as she disappears into endless cycles of perfection; Libby, her globe-trotting sister who needs support that Talia is too distracted to give; and most dangerously, from her own true, authentic self.

When Talia discovers a conspiracy to turn her life’s work into a tool for mass manipulation, she faces an impossible choice: use the watch to cheat her way to stopping it, or accept that the messy, imperfect version of her life might be the only one worth living.

My Opinion: You know that moment when you finish a book, sit back, and think, Huh… I liked that way more than everyone else seems to? That was me with Idea Life. This is why I should never read reviews. While other readers were lukewarm, I’m over here nodding along, occasionally misty eyed, and fully invested.

The premise leans a little YA, sure, but the characters themselves are adults, which creates this interesting tonal blend. It might throw some readers off, but for me, it was unexpected but charming.

The plot jumps into the main action early, which is usually my jam, but here I found myself wishing for just a bit more build up, a little more grounding before the watch appears out of nowhere. And honestly, do we really know how it showed up? By the end, there are still questions lingering, the kind that make you tilt your head and go, “Wait… but what about…?” Not in a frustrating way, more in a hmm, I wish I could speak with the author.

There’s repetition, but the premise almost demands it, so even when it edges toward “okay, I get it,” it still makes sense for what the story is trying to do.

What kept me hooked were the little ticklers woven throughout, making you wonder who’s trustworthy, who’s hiding something, and how on earth these characters will navigate their way to a happily ever after. It’s a quick, easy read, but not a shallow one.

Part of why I picked this up at all was Evelyn Skye herself. I first found her through The Crown’s Game series, then fell head over heels for The Incredible Kindness of Paper, a book that left such a lasting impression that grabbing Idea Life felt like a no brainer. She even gives a nod to Paper here, but it made me smile remembering how much I liked that book.

And yes, I connected with her again. There might have been a tear or two. Definitely an exhale. And this is absolutely a book I’ll end up discussing with people in that “what if” kind of way that lingers long after you close the cover.

The Obelisk Gate

Title: The Obelisk Gate
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Published: August 18, 2016 by Orbit
Format: Paperback, 410 Pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Broken Earth #2

Blurb: Essun has found shelter, but not her missing daughter. Instead there is Alabaster Tenring, destroyer of the world, with a request that would seal the fate of the Stillness forever.

My Opinion: There’s a lot I enjoyed in the second book of The Broken Earth trilogy. The atmosphere is heavy with the strange beauty of the Stillness, and the way Jemisin threads grief through every interaction. Yet, I was not as swept away as I was with The Fifth Season. The first book grabbed me and refused to let go; this one feels more like a slow, deliberate walk through a world I was already familiar with, and only a few jolts that reminded me of why I stayed.

Essun’s chapters still land for me. Her weariness, her prickly tenderness, the way she keeps trying even when she’s bone‑deep tired, is compelling. And Alabaster’s return added a welcome emotional weight. Their scenes have that tension I love with two people who’ve survived too much and are trying to shape the world with whatever pieces they have left.

But the pacing is different this time. The book spends a lot of time explaining the machinery behind the magic with the Obelisks, Guardians, ancient wrongs, and while it’s fascinating, it doesn’t have the same visceral punch as the first book’s structure and revelations. I never felt fully bored, but I did feel like I was mentally wandering while waiting for the story to ignite.

Nassun’s storyline is the part I wrestled with. It’s dark, unsettling, and intentionally uncomfortable, and while I appreciate what Jemisin is doing, I had a hard time connecting with it. It’s powerful, but not in the same way Essun’s journey is powerful. I know it is going to matter later, but for now, I was having a hard time.

By the end, the book finally tightens its grip. The emotional stakes sharpen, the world cracks open a little more, and I can feel the trilogy shifting toward something huge. It’s a middling second book, just not the lightning strike the first one was. Still, I’m invested, and I’m ready to see where this all leads, even if this installment didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Eggnog, Extortion, & Evergreens

Title: Eggnog, Extortion, & Evergreens
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: November 19, 2020 by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Kindle, 206 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #14

Blurb: Mae West is busy this Christmas season. She's running around Normal getting the town ready for the first Winter Festival, which she hopes will become an annual event for the tourist town.

The freshly fallen snow sure does make the Daniel Boone National Park beautiful and ready for Santa's arrival, but it also makes the curvy roads through the forest very slick. Unfortunately, Mae finds out just how slick the roads are after her car slides off the road and hits a tree, putting Mae into a deep coma.

Mae is one of the lucky patients who does wake up and happy to celebrate Christmas with family and friends.

One of the patients in the emergency room with Mae didn't die that night of natural causes, and Hank Sharp has himself a new homicide case on his hands.

Mae starts having memories about the fire that took her family and a memory of a murder plot that she thinks happened when she was in her coma. Only, she's having a hard time distinguishing between the two memories and the clues seem to have blurred lines. There's one thing she does know for sure, both incidents come with clues that neither were accidents.

Once again, Mae West with the help of the Laundry Club Ladies put on their ameatur sleuth cap to help solve the mystery of the murders before the killer sends her Christmas gift she can't return.

My Opinion: I’m really enjoying how this series fits into my reading rhythm. Mae West and her band of laundry ladies have become my go to palate cleanser when I want something I can slip in between other books. Normal, Kentucky is a familiar, cozy, and entertaining place where everyone already knows your name and your story.

This installment has that festive energy I hoped for in a holiday cozy, even though I was reading it during a summer heatwave. The characters feel settled in their roles, and there’s a nice spark to their interactions; enough to keep things lively without tipping into unnecessary chaos.

The mystery itself is fun, a little twisty, and just complicated enough to keep me interested without demanding full detective mode attention. That’s part of the charm of this series: I can enjoy the ride and appreciate the atmosphere without feeling that I had to work too hard to get to the end.

If the world feels a little too loud or too heavy, this series offers a soft landing where a cozy comfort read can go a long way.